Chapter 74

At the restaurant last night, we overheard multiple locals mentioning a nearby trail with waterfalls and stunning views of the ocean.

So today, the five of us decided to take a break from the beach and go on a hike.

It was midday, the hottest time of the day, and we weren't even five minutes into the hike when James started complaining about his sore muscles.

"Ugh, why does this hike have to be uphill?" he whined, pouting excessively. "My thighs are killing me."

"It's not even that bad," Victoria rolled her eyes at him. "This is what you get for eating all our food and not exercising after."

"Are you calling me fat, Vic?" James fake gasped, clutching a hand at his chest.

Although, the gasp might've been real due to the way he was currently struggling to breathe from walking so much.

Thinking about Victoria's comment, I figured that there's she actually thought that James was overweight. Despite eating like an entire family of four, James was incredibly in shape. It was almost unfair how fit he was.

It seemed like boys always had a better metabolism than girls. Where I had to watch how much pizza or cookies I ate, James could eat as much as he wanted and still look like an all-star athlete. It just really wasn't fair.

"I'm saying you're fat." Victoria rolled her eyes, trudging on. "I'm just saying you should work out more if you're already feeling sore. We've walked like a hundred feet so far."

"A hundred feet at a straight incline!" James yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "I have weak hamstrings!"

"The burn is kinda nice," Emily said from the front of the line. She was farther ahead than all of us, and I had no idea how she was keeping such a good pace.

"Emily used to run track," Victoria said as if she heard my thoughts. "She's always been really athletic."

We walked for two hours straight, most of the journey was uphill since we were climbing the mountain. I wasn't going to lie, the hike was beautiful with all of the trees and birds flying around us, but it was extremely intense.

I felt that if I hadn't been training with Lucas for the past handful of weeks, I wouldn't be able to climb this hike. Even now, I felt myself panting for breath with every step.

"Oh my God, is this view even worth it anymore?" James asked for the third time in the last ten minutes. "I'm so over this. I just want to go back home and lay on the beach with a drink in my hand."

"Stop being such a party pooper," Emily said from ahead of us. "Everyone has said that the view is a must-see!"

"I could just pull out my phone and Google it," James huffed. "That's good enough for me."

"We've already made so much progress," Lucas said from beside me.

Upon inspecting his face, I saw that he hid his emotions well. But I could tell that he was finding this hike equally as difficult to climb due to the quick rise and fall of his chest.

"Why would we just stop and turn around now?" he continued.

"I don't even think we're halfway up yet," Emily stated.

My face fell when she said that. How long was this hike?

Everyone else seemed to share the same sentiment as we fell quiet, continuing to move forward.

Suddenly, the path ahead of us split into two separate directions, leaving all of us to stop in shock.

"Well, what now?" Victoria rested her hands on her hips as she caught her breath. "There's no sign to tell us which path is the right way to go."

"Obviously," James started, spinning around to face all of us. "This split in the trail is a sign that we all have to split up."

"What?" Victoria raised a brow. "No, it doesn't."

"Sure it does!" James looked over to where Lucas and I were standing. His eyes trailed over us before he grinned, shooting us a wink.

He walked to the left side of the trail. "I think Victoria, Emily, and I should go this way..."

"Isn't it a horrible idea to split up?" Emily asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "That is usually when bad things happen in horror movies..."

"No! Psh, we'll be perfectly fine! If anything's going to happen to you guys, you have me to protect you," James said confidently.

"Oh great, we're doomed," Victoria mumbled under her breath.

"Hey, that's rude!" James crossed his arms over his chest. "But regarding the path, the two ends have to meet again at some point, right?"

"Oh, then let's make it a race..." Lucas challenged, taking a step closer to James. "The first group to make it to the two paths meeting again wins."

"Wins what?" James's eyes lit up at the sound of a challenge.

I looked at Emily and Victoria who were already looking at me. We all shook our heads and rolled our eyes, sharing the same thought.

Boys.

"Winners win... beach house rights," Lucas offered. "First dibs on showers, snacks, anything for the rest of the time we're here."

At the mention of the beach house, James grinned. "Oh, you are sooo on Busch. I hope your legs can run fast, you seemed a little winded this whole time."

"Me?" Lucas scoffed. "You're the one who has been complaining this entire time about not having enough strength to push forward. I think this challenge is an easy win for me."

Without saying another word, James spun around and sprinted up the left trail, moving faster than I'd seen him move in the last couple of hours.

What the hell?!

Before I could say anything, I felt Lucas's hand wrapped around my wrist as he pulled me to the right side of the trail.

"Run!" Lucas encouraged me, letting go of my arm as he sprinted up the right path.

I had no choice but to go after him, my lungs heaving and my legs burning as I tried to keep up the pace.

After about four minutes of running, I thought I was going to throw up. My face felt hot and my lungs were gasping for air.

"Lucas!" I managed to get out. "I need to stop!"

"We're almost there, Shana! I can feel it! Don't give up yet!" Lucas turned his head to look back at me.

"Here!" He pointed to a clearing in the trees nearby.

Was he trying to tell me to go off the trail?

Lucas answered my question by running through the trees, and I followed him.

"Lucas! Why are we going this way?"

"It's a shortcut!" he shouted at me. "Well, at least I hope so!"

I had a very bad feeling about veering off course, but Lucas wasn't slowing down and I wasn't about to stop just to be stranded in the middle of the woods.

After jumping over rocks and dodging trees, Lucas finally slowed to a stop. He did a full turn, surveying the area. I followed his movements and realized the major mistake we had just made.

I had no idea which way the trail was... and I had no idea where we were.

When I looked at Lucas, the same realization crossed over his features.

We were lost.